ATOMIC PICNIC
INTRO
Atomic Picnic is a third-person bullet heaven that mixes fast-paced combat with explosive co-op action.
You’re swinging, dashing, and blasting through waves of enemies while stacking upgrades and building some pretty ridiculous combinations.
At least… that’s how the game describes itself.
So today, we’re going to take a closer look at Atomic Picnic and see if it’s actually fun — or if it just sounds good on paper.
Before we get into it, I do want to mention that this game was gifted to me by the publisher, Mad Mushroom.
That said, this isn’t a sponsored review, and there were no requirements on what I could or couldn’t say and no requirement to even play or make this review — so everything here is my honest opinion as always. Also this game is in early access so i will try to re review the game upon launch
GAMEPLAY
Atomic Picnic is a roguelite, survivors-like game where you choose from multiple characters, each with their own look and unique ultimate ability.
There’s also a variety of weapons to pick from — assault rifles, snipers, shotguns, grenade launchers, pistols, bows — and you can mix any character with any weapon, which opens up a lot of different playstyles.
Each character can be upgraded over time to become stronger, but instead of having a full skill tree, the game uses a more straightforward upgrade path that just improves their overall power.
Weapons can also be customized with attachments, which add different effects and change how they behave during a run.
You also have grenades one thats regular, one thats fire or ice
As for unlocking everything, most characters and weapons are tied to challenges. A lot of these will be completed naturally just by playing, while others require a bit more effort and intention to unlock.
There are also “mementos,” which are essentially special upgrades you can find during a run.
Once you’ve unlocked them, you can upgrade them using what the game calls pebbles — or at least I think that’s what they’re called. It kind of looks like gold, so… gold pebbles, I guess.
Upgrading them increases the buffs they give, making them more effective in future runs.
There’s also a discovery page where you can see everything you’ve unlocked, along with what you’re still missing.
If you hover over items that are close to being unlocked, the game tells you exactly what you need to do.
But if it’s something you’re not even close to unlocking yet, it just shows this unreadable, almost alien-looking text instead.
As for the actual gameplay loop — it’s pretty straightforward.
You pick a map (starting with one and unlocking more as you progress), choose your character, weapon, and grenade, and then jump into a run.
From there, each map follows a similar structure.
You fight enemies to level up, then complete a set of main objectives:
escorting the rover, planting bombs to destroy a pillar, fighting a zone guardian, and finally taking on the map boss through a portal.
Although on the first map, there doesn’t seem to be a proper boss — just the guardian.
As you level up during a run, you pick upgrades just like in other survivors-like games, and that essentially forms the core gameplay loop.
The bosses are pretty cool, and each one has its own unique fight.
That said, they do feel a bit easy once you learn their mechanics.
My favorite so far is the bird boss, Oswald — mainly because the fight feels the most unique, and it was actually the most challenging out of all of them.
The game also has a fast reload mechanic.
When you run out of ammo, a quick-time event appears that lets you reload faster if you hit it correctly. You also don't need to reload until you actually completely run out of ammo as your ammo will regenerate if you don't shoot.
At first, I thought this was kind of pointless… but it actually grew on me.
Especially because there are upgrades that trigger effects when you fast reload.
And once you unlock the upgrade that makes fast reloading automatic, those effects become even more powerful, which is a nice touch.
As for the upgrades overall, they’re decent — but I do feel like there’s a lack of variety.
Some of them are pretty cool. For example, instead of a typical slow effect you’d see in most games like this, this one spawns a snowman that slows enemies down.
So while the ideas aren’t completely new, the game does put its own spin on them.
That said, there just aren’t enough options right now, and it makes build variety feel a bit limited.
The game also has “cursed” upgrades, which I actually like.
They come with both upsides and downsides, so it feels like you’re shaping a more specific build by sacrificing certain stats for others.
But some of these don’t feel fully thought out — either they don’t really have a meaningful downside, or they don’t feel like much of an upgrade at all.
And in some cases, the descriptions aren’t very clear about what they are actually doing.
Unfortunately this game does not have a endless mode or atleast if it does i never found it which means each run last about 15 or so mins and it would just be way nicer in my opinion to have an option for endless mode that gets harder and harder as time goes by
GRAPHICS
The graphics are very stylistic, leaning into more of an anime aesthetic.
If you like that style, you’ll probably enjoy how the game looks — and if you don’t, then it likely won’t do much for you.
Personally, I do like the overall art style.
OUTRO
So overall, the gameplay is fun.
The movement feels good, the guns feel good, and the progression is solid.
But it does feel like it’s lacking variety — especially when it comes to upgrades.
The game also has co-op, which, like most games, naturally makes the experience more fun.
There are a few minor bugs and glitches. I haven’t personally run into many, but some players have reported issues like the game’s sound cutting out, which can be pretty annoying.
There are also no achievements in the game at the moment, although I’d expect those to be added in the future.
I also want to talk about the price — it currently sits at $20, and honestly, I think that’s a bit too much right now.
The game is fun, but I don’t think there’s quite enough content to justify that price at the moment, especially since it’s expected to increase at full release which means the game will be $25 to $30 at launch.
That puts it in a slightly awkward spot, because it’s competing with games like Risk of Rain 2, Roboquest, Gunfire Reborn, and others — games that are in that price point, but offer significantly more content and replayability in my opinion.
So at the end of the day, the game is fun and has a lot of potential… but the pricing doesn’t quite match what’s currently on offer but it fun.
Shoot spirals of shurikens or blaze fiery Rocket trails. Every upgrade combo creates harmonic chaos. Stack Cursed Curios, trigger evolutions, and rain explosive meteor storms on your enemies for devastating effect.